Reconnect
by FossiliZed
Summary: A series of one-shots where the KH characters go to worlds that haven't appeared in the series. I take requests. Latest chapter: Treasure Planet.
1. Briny Deep

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters or places mentioned in this fiction. Disney will own most of it and Square Enix owns some of it too. This is for none profit. It's entertainment only. Did I miss anything? Oh yeah. ENJOY!

* * *

 **World:** The Isle of Naboombu/Naboombu Lagoon

 **Film:** Bedknobs and Broomsticks

 **Main Characters:** Axel, Xion and Roxas.

 **Category:** Fluff, humour, friendship.

 **Rating:** K

Rules for requests at the bottom.

* * *

It was one of the few missions Axel, Roxas and Xion ever went on together.

It was a new world. Demyx had discovered it by accident. The story was that he was on a relaxing mission when a Heartless came out of nowhere and attacked him. In his bumbling panic, he cast a spell he hadn't fully mastered and was transported to a completely new world. What happened after that, no one knew, because when Demyx returned to the Castle, tripping over his cloak, soaking wet, he'd didn't explain very far before he fainted. Saix assumed that a gigantic Heartless had attacked him (although it was more likely that Demyx had mistaken his own shadow for something frightening), so he instructed Xion and Roxas to destroy it, while exploring the new world. They were just about to leave when…

"Sheesh! Keep your bangs on!"

It was Axel, scurrying into the Grey Area, quickly pursued by a furious Saix, positively _bristling_ from whatever Axel had done this time. Axel raised his arms in defence.

"I was just making an _observation!"_

From his seat, Luxord raised an inquisitive eyebrow, before quickly turning back to his cards. He shuffled them a little, and placed one down. "I wonder if Lady Luck dealt him a bad hand." He mused, "I can't wait to see how this plays out."

Opposite him, Xigbar guffawed. "Oh I hope it's good! We haven't had some decent entertainment for ages!"

Roxas and Xion glanced at each other, unsure wherever to leave, watch, or try and help their friend. It was clear none of the other Organization members were going to.

"So help me Axel, I will rip _every strand_ of hair from your head one by one!" Saix seethed. He was so angry his orange eyes began to glow gold. The smiles disappeared off Xigbar's and Luxord's faces and they dived behind the sofa. Saix was going into berserk mode! Everyone knew not to mess with him when he was in berserk mode! Roxas and Xion backed closer to the corridor of the darkness, but both of them were too loyal to simply leave Axel.

Axel's face was buried in his hands as he let out a annoyed sigh, so he didn't notice the change in his friend's eyes.

"Oh great Kingdom Hearts, where you always such a little…AAAAHHH!"

With his bare hands, Saix picked up Axel and – Xion and Roxas had moments to duck – threw him into the open corridor of darkness. Axel disappeared.

"Have fun, Axel." Saix hissed. The glow in his eyes faded away. He blinked a couple of times and then glared at Roxas and Xion, frozen with shock. "Shouldn't you two be leaving?" he said, folding his arms. "Hurry up and go. Those hearts won't collect themselves, you know."

Xion squeaked. Roxas groaned. The two of them left wordlessly.

On the other side, they found Axel. His hair was all messed up - all the spikes in the wrong positions, but Axel was too busy holding his waist, where Saix had grabbed him, and wincing to correct them. When he saw Roxas and Xion running towards him, he put on a smile. "Hey guys! ..."

"Axel!" Roxas cried, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." The redhead groaned as he straightened his back and pushed his hair back to normal. He laughed nervously, rubbing his neck. "Man-oh-man, I didn't think he was _that_ angry."

"He's such a bully!" Xion mumbled, sticking out her bottom lip and scowling. "He's _horrible_."

Roxas nodded in agreement, but then smiled at Xion, "At least we're on our mission together now. Right?"

Xion brightened up instantly. "Right!" she said, smiling again.

Axel glanced round. "Er…what is this place anyway?"

"Demyx said it was some kind of island but..." Roxas frowned as he looked about him. "This doesn't look like an island at all."

The landscape was strange – alien, in fact. Everything was a deep dark blue, expect for the strange plants that grew out of the grey sand and rocks. These plants were all kinds of colours and shapes. Some of them had many branches that twisted round each other and sprung out, while others were round and spiky. It was a strange, but wondrous sight. The air was strange too: the blue appeared to be some kind of fog; it was thick and difficult to move through. As for the ground, well, they could barely stay _on it!_ They had become lightweight. One small push and they rose into the air.

Roxas and Xion had fun trying this. They pushed off the ground and slowly floated there. Axel had to drag them back down by their ankles and rolled his eyes each time. Roxas and Xion jumped up again and laughed. It was like flying, but different. It wasn't a sensation the two of them knew, although they both had a feeling that they had done it before but couldn't place when or where or with who...

Suddenly Axel yelled.

"What the…"

"Axel, what is it?!"

Axel was holding out his hand and staring at it like he'd never seen it before. Then he clenched his fists, scowled, smiled, scowled again, and finally settled on a grin and shook his head with a peeved fondness. "And I thought he'd lost his sense of humour…"

Roxas blinked, struggling to get back on the ground again. "Huh?"

Axel looked up at them and gestured around them with his finger. "Looks pretty weird, right? Well, it might not be as weird as you think."

"What do you mean, Axel?" asked Xion.

"We're underwater." Axel said. He snapped his wrist, "Saix knew it, too. Ha!"

Roxas frowned. "What? How can we be underwater? We're breathing!" He floundered. Axel offered him a hand to pull himself down and then helped Xion down too.

"Must be some kind of magic." Axel explained. "My powers aren't working so we're definitely underwater. Oh-ho, I'll give Saix this one, the little git."

"I see." Xion said, "These leaves aren't leaves at all – it's seaweed, and the reason we're floating is because we're actually swimming, right?"

"Right." Axel nodded, "Everything's lighter underwater. Got it memorized?"

Roxas was still frowning. "Wait a second. Why would Demyx be freaked out? This sounds like his perfect world. Not to mention, we're still somehow breathing underwater and none of us cast a spell or anything to cause that, so how come we can?"

Axel hummed. "I say we do some recon and find out what's really going on around there."

With that, the three friends made their way clumsily through the underwater-world, giggling whenever they bumped into each other – accidentally or otherwise. It was mostly quiet, which wasn't too surprising, and they were glad for the peace. At one point, Roxas stuck his tongue out and declared how 'this place tastes like ice-cream' and the three of them laughed some more.

"Real annoying without my powers." Axel complained.

Xion cooed. "Aww! Don't worry, Axel. We'll protect you."

"Well, I sure hope they aren't expecting me back."

"Hey!" Xion cried, pretending to pout. "So mean!"

Axel scoffed and mussed her hair. Xion brushed him away, giggled, and skipped a head - only to run straight into something and stumble back in fright. Someone had come out from behind a large flowery reef so Xion hadn't seen him until she hit him.

"Ooff!" he cried.

Xion blinked. Behind her, Axel and Roxas had stopped.

It was a fish wearing a waistcoat. He had glasses and was smoking – can you smoke underwater? – a cigar and holding a cane. Its waistcoat was yellow, over a white shirt, with a brown blazer and dark red bowtie. He was also wearing a brown hat.

Xion blinked several times. "Oh...um...sorry for running into you."

"Oh, it's all right, young miss." the fish said, straightening his bowtie which had been knocked diagonally. "I should have looked both ways before crossing. Don't you agree?"

Axel hummed, placing a gentle hand on Xion's shoulder to let her know not to feel bad. "I've heard people say that, Mr...?

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Mr Codfish." he tipped his hat as he said it.

"Of course you are." said Axel.

"Well, it's been nice chatting but I must be on my way." he tipped his hat again and turned to leave when Roxas called out,

"Wait! We were wondering if you could tell us where we are?"

Mr Codfish looked a little surprised at this question, but then he nodded. "Lost, are we? Well, you've not been the first. This is Naboombu Lagoon. I don't suppose your with the others?"

"Others?" repeated Roxas. "You mean other Nobodies?"

"Nobodies?!" Mr Codfish said incredulously, "My goodness, forgive me! I didn't mean to imply such a thing! No, I meant the people who passed by here. The two young ladies, the gentlemen, the nice boy and the dalcop. They were looking for the island."

Axel looked excited. "So there is a island! Perfect!"

Mr Codfish looked disapprovingly at Axel, not bothering to hide it. "Well, if you think so. I suppose it's more your thing, you legged-folk, but if you're planning to go up there like the last lot, I advise against it. They're always having troubles. Very violent up there. It's much more peaceful down here. Course, I wouldn't dream of stopping you."

"We'll just take a look around." Axel said.

Mr Codfish nodded approvingly. "Well, good day to you. Goodbye." He tipped his hat again and Roxas and Xion waved. Axel put his hands on his hips and pressed his lips together in thought.

"Goodbye!" "Bye!" called Roxas and Xion as Mr Codfish swam off into the distance. They watched him go until he disappeared between two spiky coral shrubs.

"A talking fish wearing clothes." Axel murmured, "Other worlds, man..."

"He sort of reminded me of that white rabbit - or his waistcoat did." Roxas said.

Xion nodded. "Yeah. I supposed if we had hearts, we'd be surprised at something like that, but..." she giggled, "...we've met a talking doorknob."

"And a flying carpet, which was somehow alive."

"And living household objects that used to be humans."

"And that Pete - What even was he, anyway?"

Axel chuckled at them, "You've been on loads of adventures, you two, huh? You know, when I still had a heart, I lived in this really purty world called Radiant Garden. It was full of humans only, until one day when this talking duck arrived."

"Really?" Roxas said. "What did you do?"

"Er...nothing. I didn't think anything of it. Man, I was dumb. But you know what?" The man grinned and leant down to their height, as though he was telling them a secret, "He had sea-salt ice-cream, so I don't think anyone wanted to do anything about it! I heard our king loved his ice-cream so much he let him stay - no questions asked! I brought my first ice-cream from that guy. Wonder what he's up to, now."

They swam through a tunnel and on the other hundreds of fish, all wearing different clothes and accessories, where swimming into an underwater cove. Above the cove, etched in the stone, it read BEAUTIFUL BRINY BALLROOM. They glanced at other another. Wordlessly they agreed to go in. They passed through a curtain of bubbles, opening up to reveal a large space filled with clothed, dancing fish.

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Ooookaaayyy..."

There was stage where a group of fish dress in red and white. Some where playing saxophones and some where singing - actually it was more like burbling - there was even an octopus playing the drums!

"Wow!" Xion gasped, dazzled by the colourful schools of fish.

"What's going on here, Axel?"

Axel shrugged. "Beats me. I guess there some kind of celebration going on. It's not really clear."

"Do we join in?"

"Er...well..." Axel gave a nervous laugh, pushing a hand through his hair, " _You_ guys can. I'm gonna find island and - no, what are you doing?""

While Axel was talking, Xion and Roxas had looked at each other and shared a silent conversation. Grinning deviously, Roxas grabbed Axel's arm and Xion grabbed the other.

"No, no, no... _Whoa!"_

Axel stumbled onto the dance floor. Xion and Roxas fell into fits of giggles. The fish all stopped and stared at Axel, the intruder of the dance floor. Axel, chuckling nervously, lifted his arms and waved them. The fish, some of which raised an eyebrows and others scoffed, looked at one another before they returned to their dance. Axel tried to dance - though it looked for like he was going to fall over - his way off the dance floor, but before he could, Xion and Roxas stopped him and forced him to stay. They danced together, not caring the odd looks of the passing fish.

After a while, the trio tumbled from the ballroom in breathless hysterics.

"Oh, your dancing, Axel!" laughed Roxas.

"Pfffffftttt, like yours was any better!" he retorted, but he was blushing furiously. He blamed it on all the work.

"See, I told you he was out of shape!" Xion whispered to Roxas.

"Oi, you!" Axel said in mock-offence, putting his hands on his hips. "Now whose being mean?"

"Hey, I didn't mean it." Xion said.

Axel waved her off. "Whatever. Now, I don't know about you, but I want to check out the island. Didn't I promise to take you two to the beach?"

Roxas gasped, "Well, what are we waiting for? It's straight up, right?"

"I imagine so."

"Well, let's go!" Xion said. "Last one there has to buy ice-cream!"

It was a race to the surface. Roxas got there first, followed swiftly by Xion, and then Axel, who was beginning to wonder if he really _was_ out of shape.

The beach was a dusty white and the sand was soft. Just beyond the beach was a forest of thick green leaves - more like a jungle really - and a couple of seeds and nuts from the trees had been scattered across the beach. It was quiet and the beach had been undisturbed for a while, but there were slight markings in the sand tha may have been footprints, or maybe something completely different.

"Hey, look!" Xion said, pointing. Just by the sea, near some bushes, there was a wooden sign with red letters that said:

NO PEOPLING ALLOWED

BY ORDER OF THE KING

Xion looked up at Axel, "What do we do?"

"Well, we ain't people, are we? Definitely ain't peopling. Let's stick around." With that, he sat down on the sand, facing the sea. Xion sat down too, sighing at the sound of the waves. Roxas was about to sit down too but he spotted something in the woods that made him abruptly stop.

Axel looked up at him. "What's up, Roxas?"

"Er..." Roxas gave a uncertain laugh, his hand going to the back of his head, "Well this is going to sound crazy...I'm pretty sure I saw a bed in those trees over there, but then it just disappeared!"

Axel paused. "...How much sleep did you get last night?"

"Maybe he has water in his brain." Xion said gesturing to her ear and Roxas huffed, knocking her and Axel on the back of the head. He sat down in between them.

The sea was soft when it gnawed at the shore. It was lovely deep sapphire blue with pink diamonds on it's surface, lit up by the evening sun. A couple of birds wearing scarves flew over head. They squawked at each other - something about leaving the iron on - and flew over the forest.

"I like it here." Xion said, gently easing away the silence, a little reluctant to let it end. "The sun's beautiful."

Axel grinned, "Yeah."

"I'm glad we finally got to go the beach together." Roxas sighed, "Though I didn't think they'd be so many talking fish."

"There's more than one beach, you know."

"We should see them all!" Xion cried, "I really want to see the sunset in every world I can."

Roxas nodded. "Let's do that."

The three friends fell silent once again. It was like that for a while and thought none of them would admit it, and none of them knew the others were thinking it too, but they wished that time would just stop and hold them there forever. No more Organization XIII. No more missions. No more Heartless and Nobodies. Just them. Just this.

However, this was was no meant to be. Soon, a loud crashing and snapping of branches as something very large and very strong charged through the forest towards them put an end to their fun.

"Someone's coming!"

The three of them barely had time to move when a large bear stumbled out of the woods, looking left and right as though he'd lost something. He was wearing a blue and white stripped shirt and a sailor hat. He gasped when he saw them.

"Gah!" he cried, pointing accusingly, "Peopling! Get back here!"

"I think we've stayed too long." Axel cried, "Run!"

They dived into the water, swimming down as fast as they could. They weren't sure if the bear would swim after them, but they didn't want to to risk it, so they kept swimming. They didn't know that the bear didn't have to swim after them. He had another method of getting to them. When Xion glanced back, just to check if they were safe, she saw it, glinting silver and looking too much like a weapon that she didn't care what it really was, she gasped and cried,

"Roxas, look out!"

It sagged onto Roxas's collar and he choked. It was a fishing hook, and barely a moment passed before it was dragging Roxas back up to the surface!

"Oh, no you don't!" Axel clenched his teeth, "Hurry, Xion! Free Roxas!" - but Xion was already swimming. She didn't have to be told! Axel swam ahead.

Meanwhile, Roxas tried to pull the hook off his collar, flailing about helplessly. He managed to get to the hook from his collar, but when he did, it caught onto his hood, and he couldn't reach it. He struggled and groaned against the pressure on his neck. "Gah!" He was definitely never going to eat fish again.

"Roxas!" Xion screamed. She reached for his hand. Roxas grabbed whole and clung on tight.

"I can't get it off!"

Using Roxas to pull her up, Xion climbed to the hook. They were almost at the surface now and it was hard to hold on. Xion tugged on the hood. It was caught firmly.

"Where's Axel?"

"I don't know!"

Xion tugged again. This time she managed to unhook Roxas just as they broke the lagoon's surface. The empty hook propelled through the air with a loud TWAANNG and smacked the bear on the beach square on the head.

"Oooh!" growled the bear, throwing down his fishing rod as he grabbed his head, where a large pink lump had appeared. "Get back here! I have orders from the king to take you to him! You stole his royal star."

Roxas clutched his neck. "What _is_ he talking about?" His voice was croaky.

Axel clenched his fists. "Who cares? How do you like this -BURN BABY!" he threw his hands forwards and a wave of flames burst to life around him and launched themselves at the unfortunate bear. The bear yelped and, holding onto his hat, charged into the woods for cover. The flames chased him, weaving past the trees, until the bear was far into the woods, when the flames died. Back on the beach, Axel let out an approving 'humph' and dived back down into the water to join Roxas and Xion.

The three of them sat on the seabed while they caught their breath.

"Thanks, you guys." Roxas said.

Xion smiled. Axel rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh wow!" Xion breathed, beaming. Her cheeks were flushed from all the excitement. "We probably shouldn't come back here for a while, right?"

They all laughed.

They sat there for a little while longer, watching the sun dancing on the surface of the water above them. They dipped they're heads back - at which point Xion's hand fell on top of a circular golden seashell. She smiled and put it in her pocket. Roxas noticed this.

"How many those have you got now?"

"One for every world I've been too." Xion said proudly.

After a while of just sitting there in peaceful silence, they decided it was best to go home. Axel opened a dark corridor and the three of them stepped through it, unable to keep the grins off their faces. Back at the castle, Saix was waiting for them. His arms folded across his chest and his lips pressed into a thin line. He smirked deviously at Axel, "Enjoy yourself, Axel?" he spat.

Axel pretended to consider this. He looked back at Xion and Roxas. Then, he put his hand on Saix's shoulder, who stared at him in bewilderment, and Axel couldn't help but smirk. "Thanks buddy." he said, meaning it.

Saix spluttered. Axel threw his head back and howled with laughter.

* * *

 **Rules for requests:**

1) The world must belong to a Disney film, or something owned/licensed by Disney. (Or, if you like, the world can be a Kingdom Hearts world and the Disney characters can be visitors.)

2) Any characters are allowed but keep it to a minimum – 6 at the most. There's only so many characters I can handle before it becomes tedious so choose well.

3) Tell me if you want it to be crack, angst, humour, fluff, etc. Keep in mind that I'm more talented in some areas than others, so quality may vary. I'll also accept slash/fem-slash and het if you want to, but nothing too explicit please. This is not a PWP and I don't want to make non-shippers uncomfortable. No shipping wars either, please.

4) If you have any plot preferences or specific characters you want to have a cameo, mention those too.

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 **Side Note:** Everyone see the new Kingdom Hearts III trailer? AWWWEEEEYEAAH! I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!

 **Sub-side Note:** Listen to 'Dearly Beloved and Hikari Live at Symphony Hall' (it's on youtube – I'll put a link on my profile) it's beautiful and deserves to be heard. Also, I can really imagine it playing in the climax of KH 3.


	2. Space Port

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters or places mentioned in this fiction. Disney and Square Enix has that privilege.

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 **World:** Spaceport

 **Film:** Treasure Planet

 **Main Characters:** Sora, Jim Hawkins.

 **Category:** Friendship, slight implied Jim/Sora if you see it that way.

 **Rating:** K

Rules for requests at the bottom.

 **A.N:** I'll probably do more with Treasure Planet, but I'm starting off sweet and simple.

* * *

Sora, Donald and Goofy were cruising between worlds when a massive Heartless attack threw them off-course. They were still spiralling out of control when Chip and Dale managed to get back in contact with them – the shake-up had been that harsh that the connection between the Gummi ship and Disney Castle had momentarily been severed, and their lazers weren't working but luckily the offending Heartless had disappeared just as quickly as they reappeared. (Sora would later figure out that the Heartless had knocked them off the Lane they were travelling in, so the Heartless where still in that Lane, and Lanes and the space around worlds was pretty much walled off, like separate dimensions. This should have been something Sora, as the Keyblade bearer, should have known straight away but, hey, it was Sora.)

"Sora! Sora! Are you all right?" came Chip's voice through the coms. The screen was down and Sora had no idea where they were. One second he was blasting Heartless out of the sky like an old arcade game, and the next he was face-down, cheek pressed against the window, head throbbing and stomach imitating a tumble dryer.

"I'm okay!" Sora cried, clutching his head where the impact had bruised him. "Nothing a potion can't fix. Are you two okay? Donald! Goofy!"

Donald squawked. "Wah! Confounded Heartless!"

"Donald's fine. Goofy?"

"I'm okay, fellas!"

"Phew! That's a relief to hear!" said Dale. "Though your thrusters have been damaged. You won't make it to the next world!"

Sora started. "Wha- What do we do?"

"Hold on a second." Chip said, "I've just picked up a reading...Another world close to your position! And it looks like you can make it!"

Sora pulled himself up so he could look through the globe window and saw, in the distance, a crescent-shaped world with dome-roofed buildings which were, like most of the world from what Sora could see, mostly white and glowing like the moon. "I see it." Sora said with a relieved smile. He moved back into his seat. "I'll take us down."

"Be careful, Sora!" Chip cried.

\/\/\/

Down in the new world, Sora stretched and sighed before gawking with wonder at the mysterious landscape before them. The city was a combination of Victorian craftsmanship and solar technology. Sora had never seen another place like it, which meant a lot given all the places he'd seen. In a way, the twisting brass pipes and the strange contraptions that no building seemed to be without reminded him of the castle in Hollow Bastion – or rather, Radiant Garden – back when Maleficent had control. However, this place was brighter, cleaner, less confusing and certainly busier. Not a moment after landing, Sora was shoved by a large red creature with pointed teeth.

"Watch where you're going!" the thing grunted as he trudged past. Sora scowled and bit back a comment because Donald was impatiently waving him over. Sora went back to his friends for a closer inspection of the Gummi ship.

"Looks completely scerfuffled." Goofy said.

"Yep." Sora agreed.

Donald sighed.

"Hey, are you okay there?"

Sora blinked at the sound of the new voice and turned. A boy, about 15 years old, was leaning against the nearby signpost to a rather rugged-looking inn, and was looking - not at them, because in this world they barely stood out, luckily - but at their clumsily parked ship, battered and broken, in the middle of the street. The boy pushed himself up from his slouching position with his elbow and walked towards them. He had brown hair that was long at the top, shaved at the sides, and came to a skinny, braided rat tail at the back. He wore a black jacket, a beige shirt, and dark pants with boots.

"Looks like you had a rough time." he said, gesturing off-handedly at the Gummi ship. "I can take a look at it for you, if you want?"

"Uh… thanks, but… who are you?"

"Name's Jim. You?"

"I'm Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy."

"All right then." Jim hopped over and bent over the Gummi ship, running his hand over the surface. "Huh. Funny material. What do you call it?"

"Uhhhhh..." Sora glanced at Donald and Goofy.

The whole 'do not meddle in the affairs of other worlds' rule and in turn the 'don't tell said people in said other world that there are, in fact, other worlds, to protect said other worlds, even though some of said people already know about said other worlds' rule were ones they hadn't been good at sticking to, despite Donald's determination at the start of their journey. Mentioning the acts of travel and the all important but ridiculously named Gummi blocks, however, had always been a subject avoided. Heck, Sora didn't know much about it himself. He wasn't sure how much information he was allowed to let 'slip out.'

Fortunately for them, Jim had a short attention span.

"You haven't damaged the main hull of the ship and that's the main thing, but you definitely need a new part for the thrusters." he concluded. "What happened, anyway? Got attacked by pirates?"

"P-pirates?!" Sora cried with excitement.

"Oh, brother," sighed Donald, "Not again."

"Gosh, there seems to be pirates in about every world!"

"So you guys travel a lot, huh?"

Sora blinked, rubbing the back of his neck. For a minute, he'd forgotten Jim was there, too excited by the prospect of pirates. Sure, he'd met some in Neverland, and others in Port Royal, and while neither experience was exactly pleasant, there was no way he'd ever be unexcited by pirates. (He grew up on an island, what do you expect?)

But back to Jim.

"Well, I guess so." Sora mumbled, still unsure about the 'other worlds' rule. "What about you?"

For some reason, the question seemed to startle Jim. But then he hid the look under his hair. "Yeah, I've been around. Anyway, about that part, I'm pretty sure they'll have one here. I mean, it _is_ a spaceport. There's loads of repair shops."

"So, where do we go?"

Jim pushed a hand though his hair. "Er…well, I don't really know this place that well. It's my first time here."

"That's okay." Sora said, "We'll just have to spilt up, right guys? I'll go with Jim."

"Okay!" Donald said, a little grumpily. He gave Jim the stink eye before tugging firmly on Goofy's sleeve, "Come on, Goofy!"

"Catch you later."

The four of them spilt into their duos and went off in the opposite directions. Sora bounced along Jim's side and grinned at the other slightly younger boy. For some reason, Jim had suddenly turned cold. He jammed his hands into his jacket pockets, and walked with his shoulders hunched and eyes downcast. Meanwhile Sora walked with his arms behind his neck and head held high. He looked at Jim and wondered if it was because he asked about his home. Maybe he had family he missed. Sora knew when he first left Destiny Islands, he was worried about those he'd left behind. He decided to test this theory.

"So, er, where are you from, if not here?"

Jim looked at him through the corner of his eye. "Montressor. The mining planet. Ever heard of it?"

"Um, no. Is it nice?"

"It's barren and boring."

"Oh." Sora paused. "What about your friends?"

"...I don't have any."

Sora blinked. No friends? That was _horrible!_ Sora couldn't imagine being without Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy or the hundreds of other people he'd met. Not. One.

"What about family? Mom, dad?"

Jim's shoulder hunched even more at that. "Mom's back home. Dad...left."

Oh. Sora chuckled nervously and went to rub the back of his neck when he noticed Jim was doing the same. The two boys looked at each other, blinked, stopped, and after an awkward silence chuckled. Jim smiled at Sora, un-hunching himself slightly, and Sora counted that as a victory.

\/\/\/

They were walking under a bridge when it happened. Sora and Jim had been getting on well - Jim wasn't hunched at all now and he was talking with him openly. Sora told him about the islands, about Riku and Kairi and how they planned to build a raft to travel to other worlds together (They had boats of their own, but they'd heard many stories growing up about fishermen lost at sea. If they got lost on the raft, at least they were lost together. Sora often wondered what would have happened if they'd ever gotten on that raft.) Meanwhile, Jim told him about the pirates stories he'd grown up on, about wanting to set sail and explore worlds. Sora was about to point out how much they had in common when suddenly...

"Shoot!" hissed Jim, grabbing Sora suddenly by the collar and smacking him against the wall. Sora yelped and opened his mouth to ask just what the hell Jim was playing at when Jim pressed his hand over his mouth, raising an eyebrow to tell him to be quiet.

At the end of the tunnel Sora could make out a figure. It was round and bumbling and could barely stand on it's own feet.

"Excuse me." said the round figure to another figure Sora could not make out, "Have you seen - yes, my apologises for the suit; I'm not normally this pig, uh, big - Anyway, have you seen a young boy around here? Human, about this tall," - he gestured awkwardly - "uh, attitude, ponytail. Seen anyone like that?"

Sora glanced at Jim.

"No I am not fat!" said the man at the end of the tunnel, scandalised "It's the suit. How many times? Anyway, have you seen...Okay! Okay! Goodness, is everyone here a ruffian? I never got this treatment at the university." he sighed, "Oh, Jim, why did you run off?"

Jim pulled his coat over his head and pressed closer to the wall as the man stumbled past. Sora raised a questioning eyebrow but couldn't speak because Jim's hand was still clasped firmly over his mouth.

Jim sighed, his breath hot where it hit Sora's cheek. "Sorry." he whispered, stepping back and walking on.

"What was that all about? Who was that guy? Someone you know?"

Jim shrugged.

 _Great._ Sora thought. Jim was hunching again. _No. I have to get through to him._ "Jim."

"...hmm."

"Who was that guy?"

"Delbert. Family friend." He pushed his hand through his hair. "I, uh, I'm supposed to be going on this ship on this sort of, uh, character-building thing and...I don't know. I want to go for my mom, but… I don't want to screw up."

"So you ran off?"

"They can't leave without me. ...I've got something they need."

"So you were just going hide and...then what?"

Jim growled. "I don't want to talk about it, Sora!" he shouted and ran.

"Hey, wait!"

Jim kept going. Sora followed.

Jim didn't say a word, no matter how much Sora pressed him. So he just stayed quiet and followed the fifteen year old, having no idea where they were going. Eventually, they arrived on a high cliff that over-looked the space port. It was used as a landing bay for the truly massive ships, the ones that would crush the others if it docked near them, but there was nothing there now, except the two boys and a strange thing Sora had never seen before. It looked like a small boat, like the kind he and Riku used to make when they were younger, but it also looked like a surfboard; a surfboard with an orange sail, and two pedals, and an engine on the back. The whole thing looked like it was welded together recently.

"It's still here." Jim mumbled, more to himself than Sora.

Sora watched him, as Jim brushed over the surface of the strange ship-board. His shoulders were still hunched and his cheeks were red when he suddenly mumbled something Sora couldn't catch.

Sora stared at him. "Huh?"

"It's a solar surfer." Jim repeated, blushing harder. Sora just blinked, but Jim wasn't looking at him to see his dumbfounded expression. "I left my other one at home, so I whipped up a new one."

"Wait. You made this? Woah, that's amazing."

Jim looked at him then and smiled, genuinely, not the sharp-toughed grin he usually gave. "Thanks. It, uh..." he coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, and Sora became aware that he was doing the same thing again, and quickly stopped. "Ahem. It needs testing. Should be safe. I've never made one wrong before." He stepped onto the board and pressed the pedal with his foot. The surfer growled and the engine flared up. The sail began to glow.

"Coooool!" Sora cried.

Jim laughed. "Hop on."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Sora grinned and jumped on behind Jim. The solar surfer was just big enough for both of them. The moment Sora was on, Jim jammed his foot against the pedal and they were flying off the cliff and over the city.

"You ever do anything like this before?"

"Oh, a few times, I guess." Sora said, remembering the rides on the magic carpet, and that time he and Riku fought a dragon/Nobody/building while riding on a flying motorbike type thing. One day, Sora remembered suddenly, he'd learn how to transform the Keyblade into a glider; this was good practice for then.

"Hu-huh." Jim said with disinterest, "And all those times did you ever do this…" Jim flicked his ankle and pulled in the sail. The surfer jerked upwards. The engine roared and they went shooting up like a rocket.

Sora yelled.

Jim laughed.

The wind whooshed past so hard that Sora though he was going to fall off. But then the surfer slowed down, as the engines stuttered and died. "Uh… Jim?" Jim didn't seem to notice. Sora shook his arm to get his attention. The engines had stopped working! The board was tipping! "JIM!"

Upside-down, they fell. Sora threw his arms around Jim as they plummeted towards the ground. Jim was completely relaxed, arms open, eyes closed, letting the wind run wild through his hair. Sora blinked at him and then, biting his cheeks, he let go and let his arms spread wide. He laughed. Having the wind through his fingers and his spikes in his face and his heart beating so loud he couldn't hear anything was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. Then there was a jerk. The sail flipped back in position and Sora's body was flung into Jim's as the board jerked a second time, barely a metre from the ground, and hoisted them back up into the air, straight again, blasting through an alleyway at top speed. Sora found himself holding Jim again, and pulled back as they rocketed past a stall selling chocolate slushies. Jim managed to reach and grab one as they went past, but he didn't steer the board in time to avoid hitting a wagon of cabbages. If Sora hadn't leaned forwards and adjusted the sail to steer them away just in time, they would have crashed.

"Nice work, Sora." Jim said, passing back the icy chocolate drink after taking a mouthful.

Sora managed to have a sip before a passing lamppost knocked the beverage out of his hand and onto an unsuspecting family of squid people. He laughed nervously. "Oops."

Then they were soaring over bronze rooftops, chimney coughing smoke, and churning wheels. The sounds of the city where just mumbles, muffled by the speed of the surfer, the screaming of the air in their ears. They lifted higher and higher until they were back where they started, on the high precipice, by the hardware store.

"That was so coool!" Sora cried, leaping up. His legs felt like jelly but he was running on adrenaline.

Jim laughed shyly. He pushed his hair out of his face. "I...uh, sorry...you know about before...storming off an' stuff...And, I, uh...I lied when I said I've travelled around a load...it's just when I heard you'd travelled around, I didn't want you to think I was a loser or something. I dunno. It's stupid."

"I don't think it's stupid. So...about Delbert."

Jim sighed. He wandered a little way from the surfer and slumped down onto the ground, pushing his face into his palms.

Sora frowned. "Hey. Whatever it is, you know talking about it always helps." He sat down next to him.

"This...trip I'm going on..." he hestiated.

"What about it?" Sora prompted.

"It's my last chance to prove I'm worth something."

"Of course you're worth something!"

Jim clenched his hands around his hair. "You don't get. I've just screwed up so many times, Sora. This is my only chance to make all that right and...I don't know what the hell I'm going to do."

Sora put his hand gently on Jim's arm. "We all make mistakes."

"Even you, Mr Perfect?"

Sora laughed. "Even me!" then he pressed his lips together, "Once, I hurt someone who didn't deserve it, only I thought he deserved it at the time. It took me a long time to figure out he didn't and now I feel really bad for what I did. But I'm going to make it up to him someday. I know he knows that too. Sure, what I did matters, but as long as I can make it up to him... _Welllll..._ " he winked, "Let's just say I have a better understanding of _myself_."

Jim chuckled. "You're a weird guy, Sora."

"Hey!"

Jim laughed.

Sora sprang to his feet, putting his hands on his hips. "So. You going on that trip?"

"Yeah, but first..." He stopped. Then he slapped his hand to his forehead. "The thrusters! I completely forgot! Come on, we need to hurry."

\/\/\/

When they got back to the crash site, the others were less than happy.

"Where have you two been?!" demanded Donald, jumping up and down.

"Keep your feathers on." Jim muttered.

Sora smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, guys, we got a little sidetracked."

"Gosh, that's okay." Goofy said, "This nice 'ere fella showed us where to get the part we needed."

Goofy gestured to the person who was so round he was struggling to stand up to greet them. There was a helmet covering his face and suddenly, just as Jim began to inch away, Sora recognised him. The man - or rather, dog - lifted his face plate. "Jim!" he cried with outrage.

Jim winced, brushing his hand through his hair. "Er, heya...Delbert..."

"You two know each other?" Donald said.

Sora chewed his lip.

Delbert stumbled towards Jim. Jim held his ground. "I have been looking all over for you! What were you thinking running off like that? Do you have any idea what I've been thro..."

"m'sorry."

Delbert blinked. "Beg your pardon?"

Jim sighed quietly. "I'm sorry. I just freaked out."

Delbert blinked again. "Oh. I see. Well...You know, Jim, it's all right to be afraid. In fact, some of the greatest men I have ever worked with were spineless, whimpering...uh, men. But, you see Jim, only the purely, _truly_ courageous people can -" there was a loud bang and Delbert jumped. "What was that?"

Jim had fixed the Gummi ship and slammed shut the hood.

"Why do you always interrupt my inspiring speeches?" Delbert mumbled.

Jim looked at Sora. "You're ready to go."

Sora's smile disappeared. "Hey, Jim, I…"

"SORA!" Donald squawked impatiently from the Gummi ship. "Hurry up will ya!"

"We best be going as well, James." said Delbert, placing a hand on Jim's shoulder. "We have to find the ship, remember? We have our own space adventure waiting for us!"

"Right." Jim said.

Sora looked at his feet. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, huh?"

Jim pulled Sora into a hug. Sora went rigid, then relaxed, squeezing him back.

Delbert's mouth fell open.

Jim pulled back, hiding his flush under his hair. "Right. See you...somewhere...I guess."

Sora waved to Jim as the Gummi ship lifted into the air. Jim grinned and waved back until Sora and the ship had disappeared into the sky. Ten minutes later, Jim and Delbert were stood in front of their ship _RLS Legacy._ Delbert glanced over at Jim.

"Are you ready, Jim?"

Jim Hawkins took a deep breath. "Yeah. I am."

* * *

 **Rules for requests:**

1) The world must belong to a Disney film, including Pixar and stuff like that.

2) Any characters are allowed.

3) Tell me if you want it to be crack, angst, humour, slash, fem-slash, het, fluff, etc.

4) If you have any plot preferences or specific characters you want to have a cameo, mention those too.

* * *

 **Side Note:** I think I just created a new OTP. Don't be surprised if I write more Jim/Sora.


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